Published: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 3:12 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, February 14, 2013 at 12:32 a.m.

Foreclosure activity in Flagler County fell in January, with an estimated 157 homes in some stage of foreclosure, down from 209 in December, according to a new national report.

Facts

Falling Foreclosures

Estimated number and ratio of homes in some stage of foreclosure in January:FLAGLER COUNTY:157 homes (1 in every 306) VOLUSIA COUNTY:517 homes (1 in every 490)

SOURCE: RealtyTrac

Flagler's foreclosure rate improved to 1 in every 306 homes — 15th highest in Florida out of 67 counties — compared with 1 in 233 the previous month, which was the third highest in the state, according to the latest figures released Wednesday by RealtyTrac.

Volusia County also had a decline in foreclosure activity, according to the Irvine, Calif.-based company, but just roughly 3 percent compared with Flagler's 25 percent drop.

In January, Volusia had an estimated 517 homes in some stage of foreclosure — 1 in every 490 — 34th highest in the state, compared with 534, or 1 in every 476, in December — 32nd highest in the state.

“One way to more accurately gauge the trend given this monthly noise up and down is to look at the 12-month rolling averages for these counties,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac. “These show that the trend in Flagler is (improving) foreclosure activity after a lull in 2011, while in Volusia the activity seems to have leveled off after dropping dramatically back in early 2011.”

Frank Zedar, a broker associate with ParkSide Realty Group in Flagler Beach, said RealtyTrac's latest numbers confirm what he has been seeing in the marketplace in recent months: a slow but steady decline in Flagler County's inventory of not just distressed properties but of available existing homes across the board.

“In Flagler County, more than 60 percent of all closed sales (of existing homes) were of distressed properties from 2009 through the end of 2011,” Zedar said, adding that the majority of those distressed properties were short sales — homes sold for less than what the sellers owed on their mortgages. “Today, it's under 30 percent,” he said.

Excluding short sales, there were only 34 closed sales of bank-owned transactions in Flagler County last month, a 24 percent drop from December, when 42 bank-owned properties were sold, said Kevin Orak, a Realtor with ParkSide, who pulled those figures from the Multiple Listing Service.

“The inventory of bank-owned (properties on the market) seems to be declining dramatically,” Orak said.

Carmen Bongiovanni, a Realtor with Watson Realty in Palm Coast, said of Flagler County, “we'll continue to have foreclosure properties here, but not to the extent that we've seen the past couple of years.”

RealtyTrac, in compiling its foreclosure numbers, counts all homes where either a warning letter has been sent stating that the owners are in danger of defaulting on their mortgage, where an actual foreclosure auction date has been set or where an auction has taken place that resulted in an actual foreclosure sale.

In Volusia County, Jennifer Clark, a Realtor with Total Realty Corp. in DeLand, said she has seen a surge in distressed properties come on the market the past 30 days.

“For us personally, we've gotten at least 30” new listings, she said, adding that while the majority of those new listings are in Volusia, they also include some in neighboring counties. “It hasn't been like this in months,” she said.

Clark said she believes the uptick in foreclosure filings is more a sign that “things are moving forward again,” after the holidays and uncertainty regarding the presidential election, rather than an indication of the local housing market taking a turn for the worse after several months of steady improvement.

“I think it's just moving through (the court system) what's there,” she said.

In January, for the fifth month in a row, Florida had the nation's highest overall foreclosure ratio — 1 in every 300 homes, according to RealtyTrac.

<p>Foreclosure activity in Flagler County fell in January, with an estimated 157 homes in some stage of foreclosure, down from 209 in December, according to a new national report. </p><p> Flagler's foreclosure rate improved to 1 in every 306 homes — 15th highest in Florida out of 67 counties — compared with 1 in 233 the previous month, which was the third highest in the state, according to the latest figures released Wednesday by RealtyTrac. </p><p> Volusia County also had a decline in foreclosure activity, according to the Irvine, Calif.-based company, but just roughly 3 percent compared with Flagler's 25 percent drop. </p><p> In January, Volusia had an estimated 517 homes in some stage of foreclosure — 1 in every 490 — 34th highest in the state, compared with 534, or 1 in every 476, in December — 32nd highest in the state. </p><p> “One way to more accurately gauge the trend given this monthly noise up and down is to look at the 12-month rolling averages for these counties,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac. “These show that the trend in Flagler is (improving) foreclosure activity after a lull in 2011, while in Volusia the activity seems to have leveled off after dropping dramatically back in early 2011.”</p><p> Frank Zedar, a broker associate with ParkSide Realty Group in Flagler Beach, said RealtyTrac's latest numbers confirm what he has been seeing in the marketplace in recent months: a slow but steady decline in Flagler County's inventory of not just distressed properties but of available existing homes across the board. </p><p> “In Flagler County, more than 60 percent of all closed sales (of existing homes) were of distressed properties from 2009 through the end of 2011,” Zedar said, adding that the majority of those distressed properties were short sales — homes sold for less than what the sellers owed on their mortgages. “Today, it's under 30 percent,” he said. </p><p> Excluding short sales, there were only 34 closed sales of bank-owned transactions in Flagler County last month, a 24 percent drop from December, when 42 bank-owned properties were sold, said Kevin Orak, a Realtor with ParkSide, who pulled those figures from the Multiple Listing Service. </p><p> “The inventory of bank-owned (properties on the market) seems to be declining dramatically,” Orak said. </p><p> Carmen Bongiovanni, a Realtor with Watson Realty in Palm Coast, said of Flagler County, “we'll continue to have foreclosure properties here, but not to the extent that we've seen the past couple of years.” </p><p> RealtyTrac, in compiling its foreclosure numbers, counts all homes where either a warning letter has been sent stating that the owners are in danger of defaulting on their mortgage, where an actual foreclosure auction date has been set or where an auction has taken place that resulted in an actual foreclosure sale. </p><p> In Volusia County, Jennifer Clark, a Realtor with Total Realty Corp. in DeLand, said she has seen a surge in distressed properties come on the market the past 30 days. </p><p> “For us personally, we've gotten at least 30” new listings, she said, adding that while the majority of those new listings are in Volusia, they also include some in neighboring counties. “It hasn't been like this in months,” she said. </p><p> Clark said she believes the uptick in foreclosure filings is more a sign that “things are moving forward again,” after the holidays and uncertainty regarding the presidential election, rather than an indication of the local housing market taking a turn for the worse after several months of steady improvement. </p><p> “I think it's just moving through (the court system) what's there,” she said. </p><p> In January, for the fifth month in a row, Florida had the nation's highest overall foreclosure ratio — 1 in every 300 homes, according to RealtyTrac.</p>